Vivid, well-written. Short work (novella) that I am not starring because I think it is an excellently written work of Urban Fantasy. It was too gritty, violent, and disturbing for my tastes so averaging me into the star ratings would not be fair. I can cheerfully recommend to Urban Fantasy fans with a warning that vivid moments in book contain stuff like self-mutilation in all its painful, bloody gore. Thru http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_folder/100721?group_id=56898 I received this book free for an uncensored, un-remunerated review.

Originally Reviewed At:Mother/Gamer/Writer
Rating: 3 out of 5 Controllers
Review Source: Tour
Reviewer: AimeeKay



Let me start by saying I liked the story. The idea of Satan having a wife and her trying to escape hell was very intriguing. In particular seeing where the author planned on taking Six and her fellow escapee Alden. I enjoyed the writing. Brewster’s descriptions of Hell and of Earth, Six flying, the people that she encounters, they all really helped me see the story as it played out. I also liked the main character and seeing how Six became acquainted with life on earth and how she interacted with people in general.



However (yes there is the dreaded but), I think the story itself would be better served as a full length novel instead of a novella. In my opinion, the other characters such as Cara and Satan really didn’t get to be as fleshed out as they could have been, and this is the case especially Alden. We get the basic idea of his mannerisms, but he just seems to fall a little flat otherwise. Also, while the book itself is descriptive and I feel I understand why the characters have done what they’ve done, it just feels as if there could be more. I know there is supposed to be another book, in fact, this one ends on a cliffie, so I’m assuming that more of the world will get described and the questions I have will eventually be answered in the next novel or novella. But it just felt as if the story was squeezed into the confines of a novella and I think Don’t Call Me Angel would have been better justified if it was longer.



Also the story had one major part that bothered me. People just see angels flying all over the place and don’t really seem to react…Yes they point and stare, but you don’t have any of the other characters mentioning that it’s all over the news or anything. And it’s Atlanta so I’m assuming someone has a cell phone and has snapped some pictures or something, or at least reported it. Again, maybe this is something that will be explained in the next book, but it seems rather major and I don’t understand why it wouldn’t have been dealt with in the course of this story.



Overall I’m giving Don’t Call Me Angel 3 out of 5 controllers. I think the story itself deserves to be a full length novel, not just a novella, particularly since it’s being continued into another book anyway. I also had questions about why Six and Alden just seemed to go unnoticed, or at least unreported, when they get to earth. But despite the issues I had with the book, I would read the sequel, since I would want to see what finally happens to Six. ( )

Six is a fallen angel. She was banished from Heaven to Hell, for reasons unknown (she blames the bureaucracy). But centuries of plotting have finally paid off – and she has managed to accumulate the favours and put into action a plan to get her free.

Now on Earth, she has to learn just what this wonderful, incredible and sometimes horrifying place actually is, what the rules are and to find her own place within it while at the same time rejecting god and her old path – she’s no longer an Angel and will not be one.

But what does she do when she finds she is not the first to escape? And worse, that not only are the other escapees engaging in horrific behaviour, but that her friend and ally seems all too willing to join them. And that’s before the old forces she left in Hell decide they want her to return.

This book was a very short read at only 100 pages, but it managed to fit in a lot of depth in a little space. Six has escaped from Hell and is confronted with Earth that makes so little sense to her. The world is beautiful and amazing and stunning – yet it is so full of cruelty and evil. Humanity has so much, yet it still engages in the behaviour she sees down in the pit.

This adds a lot of conflict to her character – as well as her utter rejection for the god that damned her, symbolised by the removal of her wings. But now, when she sees people suffer, she is torn – does she feel compassion for them because of her angelic instincts (which she rejects?) And when their suffering is just a sliver of Hell – and they get to go to heaven anyway. Even people she considers lacking, who shouldn’t get that, which was denied her. She even gets a sense of anger about it. Yet at the same time there’s her outrage that this suffering, this predation isn’t confined to Hell, that it happens in this wonderful Earth as well – she is angry because they are despoiling this amazing world

Then there’s her fellow Angel Aldren; he’s also an interesting source of conflict. He was, for so long, the only friend and ally she had, especially in the dangerous times in Hell. And yet, now he is out and she can’t agree with what he’s doing – his cruelty, is callous evil, his casual abuse of humanity around him. But to turn on hr only friend is a major step – especially when she thinks that it is Hell that has done this to him; and can she judge him on that if she truly got an easier time in Hell?

Diversitywise, we don’t have a huge cast of characters and most of them are supernatural – but Six is a woman of colour.

My main criticism about this book is its length. There was a lot that could have been explored here in greater depth. We could have had Six get used to the real world. We could have had Six’s conflict with Alden, we could have analysed the claim of her having an easy ride in Hell, we could have had her explore her morality, her worry about the humans, her anger against god, her resentment of humanity – we could have explored whether Alden was justified in his cruelty, whether he was damaged, whether he was hurting, whether he was redeemable. But we didn’t – we raised them and then moved on. And it wasn’t for lack of space – at a 100 pages long this book could definitely have included more. It was over and I felt like I only got a prologue.

Read More ( )

Well done. Great characters and pacing. ( )

DON’T CALL ME ANGEL has all the right ingredients – compelling opening, tough heroine, and an ending that has the reader wanting to know what happens next. For all these wonderful ingredients, there was definitely something lacking for me that kept me from being wholly engrossed by this prequel.

The story opens with Six, an angel who has been cast out of Heaven, literally clawing her way out of Hell. I love the dramatic imagery this scene evokes – an angel clawing her way out of the pits of Hell. She makes it out and into the world above, our world, where she tries to blend in and start a new life. Six escapes with her friend or acquaintance, Alden. While Six feels some empathy for humans and holds some value for human life, Alden does not. Therein lies one level of conflict as Alden rampages against humans and Six tries to stop him. It also goes a little deeper. While Six does have some empathy for humans, she also knows that murdering them will alert the powers that be in Hell of her escape. She doesn’t need the attention.

I found this dichotomy in Six to be interesting and the dramatic potential of it all is exciting – she’s conflicted, she knows what’s right and wrong, she has empathy, but there’s a coldness to her, and it takes her a while to act. Six is also filled with anger and resentment toward humans, towards Heaven, towards Hell. For all the dramatic potential, Six felt almost too distanced, too cold; her lack of emotion kept me from really caring about her and her conflict. I also wanted to feel that internal conflict more. In all fairness, I think it’s hard to develop this in such a short novella but I felt the lack of it nonetheless.

Now, the ending…well, played. Nice twist. You learn why she’s named Six and you learn exactly what she’s running from and it makes you want to know more.

All in all, I think this was a good prequel to a new series. With a full-length novel, we’ll be able to get the development of the tormented Six that I was left craving. She has such incredible potential to be a more compelling heroine that I’ll read the first book in the series to learn what happens to her.

**A copy of this book was provided by the Early Reviewers Group.** ( )